About a boy (called Riley)

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WE'RE GOING TO OKTOBERFEST!

This is where it all started: an e-mail from Natasha to which I replied
and the rest, as they say, is boring. This one, therefore, is technicially
not mine (nor actually mine at all) but is crucial to what followed. Enjoy.

Sent 3 October 2001 from Barcelona

Quoting Natasha Martincic

<martincic@hotmail.com>:

> Hi everyone!

> Sorry about the the mass
email, it starts to get expensive if a I write
to each of you, and I'm going to tell you all
the same thing anyway...oh, and
if you don't want to receive updates about our trip,
just let me know! :)

> Well where can I start...we're finally leaving
Spain tomorrow after 4 glorious
weeks exploring
this fantastic country. I could rave about Spain
for ages, I loved everything about it, especially
the food! I can't believe I thought I would lose
weight when travelling!

> Someone once told me that
the most important thing about travelling is experiencing
the cuisine of a country and meeting locals because
they are the things you can't see on TV
or read in a book. Well, we're taking this advice
to heart and are only eating where the locals
eat (not McDonalds or some of the other horrible
places some backpackers have to resort to). I even
bought a Spanish cookbook so when I get home I
could try and make some of the wonderful
dishes I'm addicted to here (eg: gazpacho, tortilla,
crochettes, any tapas and boccadios - yum!)

> One of the interesting things about Spain is that
most of it is dry and
barren. The only trees they have (that I've
seen) are millions of olive trees, orange trees and the occasional gum
tree! Having said this, we were quite surprised when we reached the Basque
region (San Sebastian, Bilbao, etc)
because in comparison to the rest of Spain, it is lush
with mountains, trees, and wildlife.

> Another thing that surprised me about Spain is
that most of their famous buildings are actually Moorish, especially in
the south. Moorish architecture is one of the most beautiful I have ever
seen and it's a shame that these buildings were not better preserved in
the past when the Christians took over Spain again...but, I won't get
into that one!

> Riley and I are buying English newspapers regularly
to keep informed about the 'war against terrorism'
(mostly because we can't understand any of the
news on TV). Like us, many backpackers we've met
have had to change their travel plans due to warnings
from their respective embassy about entering
Islamic countries before we know how America will
retaliate (eg: will they just bomb Afganistan
or will they try a different tactic this time?)
The British newspapers are convinced that Britain
will be the next country to be
attacked by Bin Laden's followers, which is making
us slightly nervous about setting up base there
for a couple of months...at least we have another
2 months of travelling continental Europe before
we reach the UK again, so we
can make our decision then (see Mum I am being
careful, no need to worry!)

> Tomorrow we're leaving for Munich because we've
realised that we can make the final days of Oktoberfest!!
Many beers in store for us I think! ;)

> After Munich we're retracing our path back to the
south of France and north of Italy so that we
can spend some time there before we finally reach
Slovenia (can't wait to go there!!)

> Oh and for those of you who may be interested,
Riley is growing a beard (which he's never
done before). I managed to convince him to cut his hair because it was
turning into a scary afro, but no matter how much I gently coax him (ok,
some people may call it nagging), I still haven't managed to convince
him to get rid of the beard! Oh well, at least he's having fun with it.

> After the haircut he had to trim the beard because
looking like 'Grisly Adams' didn't suit the short hair. And today, he
shaved the hair on his chin, so now he has a 'handle-bar' goatee (imagine
the side burns connecting with the moustache!
Scary, I know!) The wierd thing is that his beard is not the same colour
as his hair, it's mostly got light brown and twinges of orange/blonde
in it (and a few grey hairs which he's calling blonde!)